Aboriginals Taste Military Life In Three-Week Program

Submitted by Ann VanWert

Le Journal, LOOKOUT Newspaper
(Division CFPSA)
Melissa Atkinson, Editor
September 25, 2006

A platoon of First Nations people in the Aboriginal Entry Program are attendees currently at Work Point getting a three-week glimpse into the Canadian Forces and a possible career. The Canadian Forces Aboriginal Entry Program has the look and feel of basic recruit training, but without the uniform or rank, or the commitment to the Canadian Forces.

Instead of signing up and heading to St. Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec, for military training, Aboriginal men and women can get "a taste" of military training before making the CF a part of their future, says CPO2 Deb Eisan, Canadian Forces Recruiting Group Staff Officer for Aboriginal Peoples.

Fifty-seven Aboriginal men and women are currently at Work Point trialing service life for three weeks. Dressed in a black T-shirt and combat pants and boots, each candidate has the opportunity to try drill, weapons handling, rappelling and field survival, and learn about military culture and rank structure to see if they'd like a career with the Canadian Forces.

"Many people live in remote areas and this is a chance for them to get a taste of the military," says CPO2 Eisan, who came from Halifax to run the Work Point program.

The program is a regular force recruiting initiative designed to increase the number of status, non-status, Metis and Inuit people in the military. The percentage currently hovers around 1.4 per cent, or about 1,275 CF members.

Elements of the 13-week basic recruit training course taken at Canadian Forces Leadership and Recruit School in St. Jean-sur-Richelieu have been condensed into the three-week program. It introduces Aboriginal candidates to some of the mental skills and physical fitness needed to meet military operational requirements.

The course is normally held once a year in St. Jean-sur-Richelieu, but a rise in basic military qualification recruits has left no room to house the Aboriginal attendees. Work Point was the next best option.

Instructors received a special weeklong Aboriginal cultural awareness training, which Chief Eisan says gives them background into First Nations, Inuit and Metis history, and sensitivity to their culture and religion. Aboriginal counselors were contracted to help attendees deal with issues of culture shock and homesickness. Many attendees came from small, remote villages in northern Canada, and traveling to Victoria was their first time stepping outside North of 60.

"I told the recruits the bravest thing they have done will not be rappelling down 31 feet, but stepping onto the plane and coming here. Facing the fear of the unknown and leaving their families. Aboriginal families are tight knit," says Chief Eisan.

The attendees, with ages ranging from 17 to 50, were divided into two platoons and housed in Work Point barracks. Graduation is next Friday at the Naden Drill Deck, at which time they can choose to join the regular force. Enrolment rate at the end of the program is between 30-35 per cent.

"The military is a good, viable career choice for aboriginal peoples. I couldn't do this job in recruiting if I didn't see this as a good career choice for Aboriginal peoples," she says. CPO2 Deb Eisan is an Ojibway woman with 32 years in the navy.

"I certainly haven't looked back with any regrets. As an Ojibway woman from Batchewana First Nations in Northern Ontario, I never dreamed of travelling to Europe, or having the chance to make a presentation to the President of Antigua."

Regardless of whether they choose a career in the CF, aboriginal candidates on the pre-recruit training course receive a $1,200 bonus for trying the program,

Second Unity Gathering Of Juaneno Band Of Mission Indians
The gathering will be held Sunday, October 8th from noon to 5 pm at Cook Park La Novia, 27998 Calle Arroyo, San Juan Capistrano.

The Unity Gathering is designed to meet tribal members and continue to work towards the common goals of Unity and Federal Recognition.

The main dish will be provided. Members are asked to bring food in the following order according to your name: A-F – Potato chips and dips; G-M – Casseroles, Rice and Beans; N-S – Salads; and T-Z – Desserts.

Drinks will be sold to help raise money for future gatherings. The Park does not allow alcoholic beverages on the premises. A silent auction will be held to help cover costs of the event. Attendees are asked to bring their own chairs and shade.

There will be story tellers to relate the history of our ancestors. Youngsters can have their faces painted. Children and teens will string beads and make Indian head bands from paper. Participants can also learn the names of animals in the Native language booth and enter the coloring contest.

For more information on the Unity Gathering call Christina – (951) 264-6478 or Debbie -
(714) 403-7381.

TO SUBMIT an ARTICLE or OPINION PIECE to the Native Unity Digest, e-mail bobbieo@digitaldune.net.

NATIVE UNITY - A place for Native American Peoples to solidify their tribes to make a positive impact on the cultural, social, economic and political fabric of American society and a place for non-Natives to better understand the ways of the American Indian.

Visit Vietnam Vet. Larry Mitchell at http://www.potawatomivet.com and click on his blog at the site.

Action Needed Now On Aboriginal Health

Submitted by Ann VanWert

Difficult to break out of cycle. Study focuses on overcrowding, education, nutrition and economy in 23 communities

KEVIN DOUGHERTY The Gazette
Wednesday, September 13, 2006

A broad study of the health of Quebec's 80,000 aboriginals has found the rate of obesity in the community is significantly higher than the Canadian average, and that many live in overcrowded conditions.

As well, poor nutrition, low education levels and poor economic prospects make it difficult for aboriginal Quebecers to break out of this cycle.

Commenting on the study, Dr. Stanley Vollant, an aboriginal person and a surgeon, said Canadians should be ashamed that their native people are living in Third World conditions, adding that action must be taken "right now."

Vollant said the longitudinal study indicates the rate of obesity and overweight among Quebec's First Nations is two and three times higher than the Canadian average.

"The obesity rate is increasing and that is going to increase diabetes," he said, predicting "an epidemic of diabetes" in 10 to 15 years.The study found levels of overweight and obesity of 52 per cent among aboriginal children, 42 per cent for adolescents, 67 per cent for adults and 71 per cent for elders, defined as those over 55.

Already, one-third of elders have diabetes. Young people eat little traditional food, favouring junk food, and as Anne St-Onge, who co-ordinated the study pointed out, often a healthy salad costs more than french fries.

Ghislain Picard, chief for Quebec and Labrador of the Assembly of First Nations, said he wants the socio-economic forum, announced by the Quebec government in the Lac St. Jean Innu community of Mashteuiatsh Oct. 25 to 27, to focus on the study.

And Picard doesn't want the forum to end simply with an agreement to hold future meetings.

"We've got to do something and we've got to do something fast," he told reporters.

"The survey demonstrates that there is a strong relationship between the health of people and the economic and social conditions in which they live."

The study is based on interviews of about 4,000 Quebec aboriginals conducted in 2002 and analyzed since that time. Aboriginals living in 23 native communities, as well as the urban centres of Montreal, Quebec City and Val d'Or, participated.

The northern Quebec Crees, Kahnawake Mohawks and Inuit, who are doing their own studies, did not participate.

The study also focused on overcrowding in native communities, where about 10 per cent of people are forced to share homes intended for one family. Instead two, three and even four families can be crowded into a single-family dwelling unit.

Education levels are low, with 49 per cent of adults without a high school diploma.Of those who finished high school, 15 per cent went no further, 30 per cent earned a CEGEP diploma and six per cent were university graduates.

It found that 49 per cent of adults had jobs, an improvement from 1997 when less than one-third of the active population was working. But 20 per cent relied on employment insurance benefits and 24 per cent were on social assistance.

While smoking among Quebecers as a whole has fallen dramatically to about 22 per cent, the study found that 51 per cent of aboriginal teenagers and 55 per cent of adult natives smoke, although there was a 7-per-cent improvement between 1997 and 2002.

Among children, the study found that young aboriginals spend as many as 15 hours a week watching television, with two-thirds of boys playing video games 10 hours a week or more, while half the girls surveyed play video games four hours a week.

Parents reported that 47 per cent of children had health problems, notably difficulty breathing, visual or hearing problems and allergies.

kdougherty@thegazette.canwest.com© The Gazette (Montreal) 2006

TO SUBMIT an ARTICLE or OPINION PIECE to the Native Unity Digest, e-mail bobbieo@digitaldune.net.

NATIVE UNITY - A place for Native American Peoples to solidify their tribes to make a positive impact on the cultural, social, economic and political fabric of American society and a place for non-Natives to better understand the ways of the American Indian.

Visit Vietnam Vet. Larry Mitchell at http://www.potawatomivet.com and click on his blog at the site.

Proposed Border Fence Poses Problems For O'odham Nation

Azstar.network.com/secure border - editorial

Tucson, Arizona – September 25, 2006
The 700-mile border fence that's being bandied about in Congress looks like a reasonable solution to illegal immigration problems if you happen to not live anywhere near the border.

However, for the desert-dwelling Tohono O'odham Indians, who have lived in the region for centuries before any border existed, the fence poses unique problems that Congress should not ignore.

Before there was a Mexico or a United States, the O'odham and their ancestors lived in the area that is now divided by an invisible political boundary.

As O'odham tribal Chairwoman Vivian Juan-Saunders points out, what that means is that when the borderlands became part of two separate countries, Indians who were part of one cultural group ended up in two different nations.

Some 75 miles of the Mexico-Arizona border crosses the O'odham reservation. In modern times, tribal members have moved between the two countries using traditional routes with relative ease. A wall would create major problems for these native inhabitants.

"The fence they are discussing now would undermine all of our discussions and agreements with the Border Patrol and create undue harm to our land," Juan-Saunders said. "We need (cross-border) access to allow our members to seek health care, to participate in ceremonies and to engage in cultural processes."

About 14,000 O'odham live on the reservation. That figure includes 1,400 members who live in Mexico in areas that have historically been inhabited by tribal members.

Congress is debating the possibility of erecting a wall along the international boundary from Calexico on the California-Mexico border to Douglas in Southeastern Arizona.

One of the problems faced by tribal members is that each time a wall has been erected in other places, or security is beefed up, it has resulted in pushing more illegal immigrants into the rugged and relatively unsecured reservation lands.

The O'odham government does not want the problems created by illegal immigrants. However, it also does not want a wall that would impede wildlife trails or routes that have been traditionally used by tribal members to get to and from health- care facilities at Sells or to ceremonies at outlying villages.

"Our situation is very unique compared to other areas in Arizona, New Mexico and Texas," Juan-Saunders said. "We need to develop a plan that will be respectful (to the tribe's cultural concerns) and take into consideration the homeland security issues."

She said the nation has already agreed to allow the creation of "law enforcement centers" on the eastern and western ends of the reservation, and also to the construction of a "vehicle barrier fence," which would be about 4 feet high.

The flow of illegal immigrants is far from the only problem faced by the nation. The same isolated terrain that makes the reservation attractive to immigrants seeking work in the United States is also attractive to drug smugglers.

Population density on the reservation, which is roughly the size of Connecticut, is so low that smugglers and illegal immigrants can often avoid law enforcement patrols. But the rough terrain is also very dry and, in the summer, extremely hot, and many immigrants have died of exposure before they could reach a water source.

The House has already approved the 700-mile barrier, without appropriating any money for its construction, and the Senate is to consider it this week, possibly as early as today.

The nation has expressed its concerns to members of Arizona's congressional delegation. With luck, they will prevail upon others in Congress — especially those for whom the border is an abstraction or merely a political issue — to respect the wishes of the aboriginal people who call the region home.

Here are some comments to the above story:

"If we are going into wall building, the walls should be prison walls into which we can put the people who are hiring the illegals. They created the problem in the first place.

"Why is there no legal port of entry on the Indian Lands to facilitate border crossing for tribal members only?

"Unfortunately, the construction of a wall is driven by politics ad beliefs rather than experience and reason. Instead, prosecute the businesses and individuals who hire illegals".

My son who has “street smarts” – in many ways and for many reasons - asked , “Who is going to protect the wall?”

TO SUBMIT an ARTICLE or OPINION PIECE to the Native Unity Digest, e-mail bobbieo@digitaldune.net.

NATIVE UNITY - A place for Native American Peoples to solidify their tribes to make a positive impact on the cultural, social, economic and political fabric of American society and a place for non-Natives to better understand the ways of the American Indian.

Visit Vietnam Vet. Larry Mitchell at http://www.potawatomivet.com and click on his blog at the site.

Pollution Causes Abnormal Birth Rates On First Nations Land?

Submitted by Ann VanWert

By Cindy Drukier and Rory Xu
Epoch Times Toronto and Sarnia Staff

There's something is in the air at the Aamjiwnaang First Nations reserve near Sarnia, Ontario. But it's not just in the air. It's also in the water, the soil, and in the residents themselves: alarming levels of toxic chemicals, believed to be behind the area's skewed birth ratios. In Aamjiwnaang, two girls are born for every boy.

On June 1, Environmental Defence released Polluted Children , Toxic Nation , yet another study confirming that in the towns of Ontario's notorious "Chemical Valley," people are polluted.

Chemical Valley is the ominous nickname for the sprawling industrial complex that makes up Canada's largest concentration of petrochemical manufacturing plants–40 percent of all such facilities in the country. The Aamjiwnaang (pronounced ham-jew-nong ) reserve, near Sarnia, sits squarely in the heart of the valley, where smokestacks from companies such Dow, Suncor, Shell, Imperial Oil, Nova, LanXess (Bayer), and Royal Polymer define the landscape.

The Aamjiwnaang reserve was established in 1827. In the 1960's, the petrochemical companies started to move in, taking over most of the band's land. Today, the reserve sits on 3,250 acres, a fraction of its original size, and is home to approximately 850 Chippewa people. The community is literally enclosed by heavy industry on three sides with the polluted St. Claire River to the west of it. The chemical stench in the air is palpable.

The Toxic Nation researchers tested children and parents in five families from across Canada for a broad range of commonly used toxic chemicals such as stain repellents, flame retardants, mercury, lead, DDT and PCBs. Three generations of the Plain family from the Aamjiwnaang community were among them.

Wilson Plain Sr., 66, was found to have 32 chemicals in him, including the study's highest concentrations of PFOS (Perfluorooctane Sulfonate), PCBs and organochlorine pesticides. His son, Wilson Jr., 44, registered 36 chemicals, the highest total number, and his granddaughter Jessie, 14, contained 20 chemicals.

"All of us are contaminated," said Wilson Plain Sr. "What's most shocking is my granddaughter, who has chemicals in her body that were banned before she was even born. Canadians have the right not to be polluted by these chemicals."

A History Of Pollution Problems
The findings were disturbing but not totally surprising to Ron Plain, Chair of the Aamjiwnaang First Nation Environment Committee. "Our own studies have found heavy metals, such as mercury and lead, in the sediment throughout our community. It is worrisome to know that they are polluting our families."

The St. Claire River, which forms the border with Port Huron, Michigan, was identified as an "area of concern" in the mid-1980s as part of a bilateral effort to clean up the Great Lakes.

But the problems didn't go away.

During the nearly 20 years of clean-up efforts an additional 800 toxic spills – from both sides of the border – occurred in the river, says environmental watchdog Lake Ontario Waterkeeper. And in a recent Ontario provincial survey of local companies, virtually none were found to comply with the laws regarding spills.

And that's not all – a Pollution Watch report released last year named three Chemical Valley facilities in the Top 10 Ontario Respiratory Polluters list.

Severely Skewed Birth Ratios
Chemical contamination has long been a source of anxiety in the Aamjiwnaang community.

Last summer, a study confirmed what was already obvious to everyone on the reserve: the number of girls there was far greater than the number of boys. A community participatory research project with the University of Ottawa found that between 1993 and 2003, only 41.2 percent of babies born on the reserve were male. The normal sex ratio for humans is roughly 105 males born for every 100 females (about 51.2 percent males). This pattern held true for Aamjiwnaang babies prior to the 1990s, but then something changed. Since 1993 girl births have been steadily outnumbering boy births and the gap continues to widen.

Today, two girls are born for every one boy.

The big question, of course, is why? The leading theory is that the skewed birth ratios are due to Aamjiwnaang's industrial neighbours.

The Toxic Nation study concludes that "although there are several potential factors that could be contributing to the observed decrease in sex ratio of the Aamjiwnaang First Nation, the close proximity of this community to a large aggregation of industries and potential exposures to compounds that may influence sex ratios warrants further assessment into the types of chemical exposures for this population."

Hormone Mimics
The compounds the report refers to are generally known as "endocrine disruptors." Everything that shapes who we become–including our nervous and immune system development, organ and tissue growth, metabolism, intelligence, behaviour, and sexuality–is governed by the body's endocrine system. It develops mostly during gestation and early childhood.

The endocrine system is made up of glands that deploy hormones, or chemical "messengers," to distant body parts telling them how to develop in the future. In this dizzying delivery system, each message must be sent at precisely the right time and must be received by a single specific target cell. Once the bond occurs, a chemical reaction is triggered and the fate of the cell is sealed. Although years may pass before the effects are seen, our bodies and minds are nonetheless programmed during these narrow windows of time in early life.

Many of the synthetic chemicals that have been unleashed into the environment since World War II – such as pesticides, dioxin, PCBs, lead, mercury, styrene, household cleaners, cosmetics, PVC plastics in plastic wrap, water pipes, and others – are imitating the body's natural hormones by bonding with the receptor cells or blocking messages altogether. And they are wreaking all manner of biological havoc.

One result is altered birth ratios. It's not until the 56th day of gestation that the Y-chromosome kicks into action by telling the so far unisex sex gland to develop testicles. From here, the development of the male body and brain depends upon the testes issuing the right hormonal cues at the right time. One miscue and everything is altered.

Twenty-Three Chemicals
Twenty-three of the chemicals found in the bodies of participants in the Toxic Nation study are known endocrine disruptors. Many of the pollutants produced in Chemical Valley also appear on the endocrine disruptors list. The theory is that these chemicals mimic, or interfere with, the hormones that produce male gender.

This theory might also explain a variety of other abnormalities seen in the community, such as deformed puppies and kittens, fish in Lake St. Claire with both male and female reproductive organs, and woman experiencing multiple miscarriages. And on top of that, one in four school children on the reserve experiences developmental delays. All of these problems could be explained by endocrine interference.

A community meeting was held in Aamjiwnaang on Tuesday to discuss the Toxic Nation findings. While the problems run deep, many say the causes are clear. As one meeting participant said:

"How are we going to stop the technology? We are supposed to live with the environment in harmony. The technology is growing fast; it also brought pollution to earth. The pollution not only affects human beings but also affects fish life, bird life… How are we going to stop it?"

Plain says the community of Aamjiwnaang is determined to do something about the pollution they believe is causing chemical pollution in their bodies.

"The results of [the Toxic Nation] study have confirmed that this is not an Aamjiwnaang issue, nor is it a Chemical Valley issue, but it is an issue of national ( and international) proportions."

Pine Tree Seeking Stories Of Discrimination For Theater Project
Wabnaki Legal News

One of the priorities of the Native American Unit of Pine Tree Legal Assistance (NAU) is advising and representing Native Americans who feel they have been discriminated against. Sometimes discrimination is so hidden and subtle it is hard to identify. The Native American Unit is currently working on a theater project.

This project will use skits to help us break the barriers that are formed when people suffer discriminatory treatment and don't know what to do to stop it.

The idea for the theater project came about recently when we traveled to Sipayik to meet with members of the tribe and hear their stories about discriminatory treatment. Once some of the tribal members started sharing their stories, others were encouraged to talk. They told about bad treatment they had suffered but forgotten.

The time we spent there gave us a chance to tell everyone about the work we do to help tribal members if they've been discriminated against.In order to help us develop the skits, we are asking you to share with us any story about being discriminated against because of your Native American heritage and let us possibly include it as part of the storytelling.

Discrimination many times is not as obvious as it was 40 years ago, but it still happens. We want to help explain what forms discrimination takes and what your legal remedies are through stories told using theater skits as a medium.

If you are willing to talk to us please contact Danny Mills at our toll-free number at 1-800-879-7463.

TO SUBMIT an ARTICLE or OPINION PIECE to the Native Unity Digest, e-mail bobbieo@digitaldune.net.

NATIVE UNITY - A place for Native American Peoples to solidify their tribes to make a positive impact on the cultural, social, economic and political fabric of American society and a place for non-Natives to better understand the ways of the American Indian.

Visit Vietnam Vet. Larry Mitchell at http://www.potawatomivet.com and click on his blog at the site.

Bolivians Meet Native American Leaders

Submitted by the Western Shoshone Defense Project

(New York) On Monday, September 18, President Evo Morales Ayma and Foreign Minister David Choquehuanca of Bolivia met with Native American leaders on the Bolivian President’s first day in New York City. The President, Foreign Minister and his delegation were in New York for the opening of the General Assembly.

The meeting was organized at the request of the President and facilitated by the American Indian Law Alliance, a New York City Indigenous non-governmental organization, along with the Secretariat of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues at the UN.

Tonya Gonnella Frichner (Onondaga), President of the American Indian Law Alliance, moderated the meeting. She opened the discussion with a brief history on some Native nations’ historical and modern relationships with the American government and the struggle of North American Native peoples.

The discussion between the Indigenous Bolivian delegation and the Native American leaders from Haudenosaunee, Cree, and Lakota Nations, as well as urban Indian representatives of New York, centered around shared world views on the environment and stewardship of the natural world.

Chief Sid Hill, Faitherkeeper Oren Lyons (both Onondaga), Willie Littlechild (Cree) and Alex White Plume (Oglala Lakota) spoke of the changing climate and the unceasing assault of Native peoples’ lands, territories, resources and culture since Columbus stumbled ashore in the Caribbean.

The Bolivian Foreign Minister, David Choquehuanca, stated “our Mother Earth is mortally wounded. We have been called here to work to say we, the Indigenous peoples, can no longer tolerate this abuse.” The Foreign Minister added that the pollution of water resources was one of the most serious challenges faced by responsible leaders today. President Morales stated, “meeting with you here today obligates me to be even more committed to our Mother Earth.”

The political realities of operating as Indigenous nations in the modern world were an obvious aspect of the discussion between an Indigenous president and contemporary leaders of Native nations. President Morales stated that “the time has come for Indigenous peoples to move from resistance to power.”

He then told the people gathered around him about his peoples’ movement in Bolivia. Foreign Minister Choquehuanca remarked that “struggle is not just for freedom. When most of the world speaks of freedom, they speak only about the human beings. But society must also include freedom for the natural world, the plants, the animals, the water. Everything must be a compliment to everything else and this is more than freedom. It is a balance of all life that we seek.”

Another critical aspect of the discussion surrounded the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. It is anticipated that the General Assembly will vote on the Declaration during the current session. It is the hope of Indigenous peoples that this critical aspect of human rights standards will prevail despite strong opposition by the United States, Canada and some other countries.

The Declaration would be the first official recognition of Indigenous peoples’ rights since 1493 when the Roman Catholic Pope declared Indigenous peoples to be pagans not entitled to rights or territories. Alex White Plume and Oren Lyons reminded the delegates at the meeting that this standard prevails to this day in most modern western “democracies.”

President Morales, who addresses the General Assembly on September 19th, asked that the Native American leadership at the meeting submit some language to him to include in his remarks that pertain to passage of the Declaration. The wording submitted included congratulations to the Human Rights Council on passage of the Declaration, the importance of the Declaration in building a new partnership between member nations and Indigenous peoples and the General Assembly’s passage of the Declaration without amendment or change.

The most important result of the meeting, more than anything, was an increased understanding between the Indigenous peoples of North and South America. Kent Lebsock (Lakota) of the American Indian Law Alliance, along with President Morales, and many of the participants, remarked on their hope that this was just the first of many meetings.

Alex White Plume invited President Morales and his Foreign Minister to a Lakota gathering to be held at Bear Butte in the summer of 2007 while the President invited all present to come to Bolivia for an event they would host on October 12th in La Paz. In closing, President Morales said, “thank you for coming here today to talk with us in this great and historic meeting. After having heard from each of you and the struggles you and your peoples have endured, I have great respect for you.” His words were echoed by Foreign Minister Choquehuanca who stated, “It has been a joyous experience to meet our brothers and sisters from different latitudes.”

For more information contact the American Indian Law Alliance, 212-477-9100, or Thomas Kruse, Assistant to President Morales, 202-415-7037

Kent Lebsock
Executive Director
American Indian Law Alliance
aila@ailanyc.org

Hundreds Show Support For Native 'Rights And Sites'
Submitted by WSDP
Navajo Nation President and Tribal Leaders at 9th Circuit Court of Appeals

San Francisco, CA - Hundreds of people gathered today in front of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, unified in efforts to save a sacred mountain in Arizona from desecration by a proposed ski resort development. The courts heard arguments against the ski resorts proposed expansion and plan to make snow out of treated sewage effluent. This wastewater has been proven to contain harmful contaminants, such as pharmaceuticals, hormones and cancer causing agents.

Just the thought of making snow with reclaimed sewer water on the San Francisco Peaks should be an affront to all people of conscience, said Howard Shanker of the Shanker Law Firm who represented the Navajo Nation, Havasupai, Yavapai Apache, White Mountain Apache, Sierra Club, and others. The Peaks are sacred to 13 of the Tribes in the Southwestern United States. We are here because the lower court decision was wrong. We are hopeful that this will be a case where what the court determines to be legal is also right and morally defensible.

Tribal officials, including the President of the Navajo Nation, spiritual leaders, environmental activists and dozens of grassroots supporters traveled from throughout the country to join together with Native American communities and environmental groups from the Bay Area. The courtroom overflowed while outside colorful banners went up and numerous prayers were offered.

This is a precedent setting case, which threatens to undermine Native American religious freedoms and environmental integrity. Said Rudy Preston of the Flagstaff Activist Network. The significance of this case is shown through the unity of the plaintiffs made up of Indigenous Nations, environmental groups, and individual community members. This is not just an issue of indigenous rights violations, this is an extreme environmental and human rights crisis.

Representatives of the Navajo Nation, the Hopi Tribe, the Hualapai Tribe, Acoma, Yavapai Apache, the Sierra Club, Flagstaff Activist Network and the Save the Peaks Coalition spoke at a news conference immediately after the 9th Circuit Arguments.

Citing the importance of the San Francisco Peaks to his people, Joe Shirley Jr., the President of the Navajo Nation stated, "The world needs to know that we need to defend our way of life".
I was very encouraged by what I saw and heard today, I think that the court seemed to understand the profound impact that this will have on the tribes that are involved, on their religions and on their religious practices. Said Jack Trope of DNA Legal Services.

"Many courts over the years have done the wrong thing on these issues, hopefully this is the court that is going to do the right thing"

Sacred sites are the most holiest areas that our Indian people hold Sacred, it is the beginning of our way of life, these are places we go to communicate with our creator, San Francisco Peaks is one of those areas, just like Bear Butte in South Dakota, Medicine Lake in Northern California, or Mt. Shasta, or the Shell Mounds of the Ohlone. Said Jimbo Simmons of the San Francisco based International Indian Treaty Council.

Today these sites are threatened by developments that have no respect for our way of life, and our spirituality, and our natural way of life, we must continue to stand up for our beliefs. The spirit of the past will rise to claim the future, thats what we are doing today.

The New Face Of Jim Crow: Voter Supression In America
Submitted by Alyssa Macy
People For the American Way Foundation (August 2006)

This report documents the recent spread of new regulatory, legislative, and administrative tactics that suppress voters. It includes overviews of varies policies and emerging strategies that are erecting barriers to the ballot box. To access this report, visit: http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=4ch6kybab.0.y44blybab.sgqwjtn6.4644&ts=S0205&p=http%3A%2F%2Fmedia.pfaw.org%2FPDF%2FReports%2FTheNewFaceOfJimCrow.pdf.

Claudia Kauffman Wins In Washington State
INDN’s List continued its impressive string of victories Tuesday in the Washington state primary elections. Claudia Kauffman, Nez Perce, bested her primary opponent, while Rep. John McCoy and Dr. Don Barlow were both unopposed in their primary contests.

“The message our candidates bring to the voters is being heard,” said Kalyn Free. “Americans want the new leadership that Native American candidates offer and they are confirming that at the polls.”

Claudia will be facing Republican Mike Riley in the general election on Nov. 7, 2006. Riley, uncontested in his primary, received strong support from Republican voters and will run a spirited campaign in the fall.

Kyle Taylor Lucas, our fourth candidate in Washington, lost her primary bid against a sitting Democratic Senator.

TO SUBMIT an ARTICLE or OPINION PIECE to the Native Unity Digest, e-mail bobbieo@digitaldune.net.

NATIVE UNITY - A place for Native American Peoples to solidify their tribes to make a positive impact on the cultural, social, economic and political fabric of American society and a place for non-Natives to better understand the ways of the American Indian.

Visit Vietnam Vet. Larry Mitchell at http://www.potawatomivet.com and click on his blog at the site.

Peace Is Like A River - Invitation

A gathering of activists, actors, artists, musicians, poets & writers in support of indigenous nations.
Submitted by Mary L. Collins

To be held September 30th, 2006 At -
Pine Ridge Indian Reservation
Kiza Park, Manderson, S.D.

We are living in an age of fading compassion. Without compassion,we become insulated from and immune to each other's experience. Our world suffers through aggression caused by fear, through greed, through arrogance.

There are many of us who feel this is not the way.

And so, we invite you to join us in a collective voice as we make a stand for peace on September 30, 2006. On this day, the event, Peace Is Like A River, will be held on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. We have been invited to hold the event at Kiza Park, owned by Alex & Debra White Plume of Manderson, SD. We have received the support and promise of involvement of many prominent writers, activists, artists, educators, and actors. We hope that you will be able to participate.

No one will receive VIP treatment. This is not done out of disrespect to you or to other artists; rather, it is intended to show respect for our hosts, for all the Lakota people, and to create a community of equality and respect for all.

Simple, foods will be served. There are no hotels. Tents, tipis and self-provided RV's are all that is available. Each invited guest will need to bring their own camping gear. No invited speaker or artist will receive a fee. Appearances are being generously donated by all writers / poets / artists / activists / musicians participating. Any funds raised will be used to promote cultural tolerance, support peace intitiatives, and to underwrite projects assisting indigenous populations here in the United States and, as funds allow, Canada. We are allied with many deserving nonprofit organizations on the Pine Ridge Reservation. Any funds raised will be shared among them.

The event will be presented at no cost to those attending except for people wishing to reserve overnight camping sites or purchase event-related merchandise which will then fund the nonprofits. Donations are encouraged and gratefully accepted to help defray the costs associated with setting up the grounds, promotion, and underwriting some travel expenses for important Native artists who might otherwise not be able to attend. At this time, we have received the promise of support and participation (as schedules allow) from:

Honored Guests:

Paula Gunn Allen - Poet, Educator (Laguna Pueblo/Sioux); Jimmy Santiago Baca - Poet, Author (Apache/Chicano); Chrystos - Poet, Activist (Menominee); Tom & Loretta Cook - Running Strong For American Indian Youth (Mohawk - Oglala Lakota); Allison Hedge Coke - Poet, Writer, Educator, (Huron, Eastern Tsalagi); Manuel Cristobal - Activist (Tamaya, Santa Ana Pueblo); Carolyn Dunn - Poet (Cherokee, Muskogee Creek)

Gordon Henry - Poet, Educator (Chippewa); Lance Henson - Headman Dog Soldier, Poet, Activist, (Cheyenne); Linda Hogan - Poet, Playwright, Novelist, Educator (Chickasaw); John Fusco - Screenwriter, Author; Al Hunter - Poet (Anishinaabe); Layli Long Soldier - Poet (Oglala Lakota); Joseph Marshall III – Actor/Author (Oglala Lakota); Patricia Monaghan - Poet, Educator

Joe Montoya - Poet, Activist (Santa Ana & San Felipe); Kent Nerburn - Author;Luis Rodriguez - Poet, Author, Educator, Publisher (Chicano); August Schellenberg - Actor (Mohawk); Abena Songbird - Poet, Journalist, Singer/Songwriter (Abenaki); Luke Warm Water - Poet, Activist (Oglala Lakota); Suree Towfighnia & Courtney Hermann - Prairie Dust Films; Jason Yurcic - Poet.

Regretfully, this list had also included filmmaker, Gary Rhine, who was tragically killed in a plane crash in early January. Gary fervently supported this effort and event.

This is a grassroots effort:
It is not affiliated with any political or religious organization. There is no endowment. It is presently self-funded. We are seeking support through donations and sponsors to help underwrite the most basic expenses (food, shelter, etc) and to assist with travel for some of the poets and artists who might not otherwise be able to participate. It is intentionally intimate, inclusive, and informal.

We believe that this voluntary gathering of writers, artists, and activists will serve as a reminder to all of how exploitation of culture, religious arrogance, racial intolerance, and blatant greed creates violence and trauma that has spiraled out of control for generations. It is exploitation created by a lack of humility and has only served to separate people from one another while perpetuating the myth of one race or culture's superiority over any other. This event is intended to serve as a collective voice for every person exploited or abandoned by another’s quest for wealth at the expense of what is truly sacred.

Here are a few examples:
1. Alaska's caribou nation and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is being threatened by the oil industry who want to expand the pipeline which threatens to intersect with the caribou's ancient pathways.The coastal plain is the core calving area of the Porcupine Caribou herd and is home to polar bears, musk-oxen, wolves and 130 species of migratory birds.

2. The clearcutting of timber is probably the number one concern of Indigenous environmentalists in the Rocky Mountains and Pacific coastal ranges. The logging destroys sacred spots—such as California's Mount Shasta— and destroys fisheries through erosion and silting.

3. Bear Butte, the sacred Paha Sapa to the Lakota people, and sacred to over 20 other tribes, is being threatened with development. A group wishes to build an RV park at the foot of Paha Sapa. Sturgis, SD, is home to one of the biggest biker rallies in the country.

4. In northern Arizona, Dine CARE organizers have braved death threats to take a stand against tribally sponsored clearcutting in the Chuska Mountains.

5. Also in Arizona, the San Carlos Apache are working to protect Mt. Graham, a sacred site with old growth forests, from further development. There is a Vatican-sponsored observatory already on the mountain and the mountain, a source of healing to desert-dwelling Apaches for centuries, has been closed by the federal government.

6. Electric utilities and the nuclear weapons industry have historically targeted Native lands for both the front and back ends of the nuclear fuel cycle. Since much of North America's uranium lies under Native lands, uranium mining has caused radioactive contamination—particularly among Indigenous people and miners in New Mexico and Saskatchewan.

7. The storage and disposal of toxic chemical wastes has been the major impetus behind the new movement against "environmental racism." Many of these wastes have been stored in Native, African American, or Latino communities. At the Mohawk reservation of Akwesasne (St. Regis) on the St. Lawrence River industrial corridor, General Motors has been involved in a clean-up of PCB-contaminated wastes since 1990. The EPA recently proposed that the company be permitted to dump 171,000 yards of toxic wastes, rather than treat it. Toxic wastes may not grab the headlines on a national scale as nuclear waste or oil drilling does. In most cases, the dumping has been done by small companies, sometimes (as in the case of Wisconsin's Bad River Reservation), targeting Indian lands to by-pass state environmental rules.

8. The construction of huge hydroelectric dams has flooded Indigenous lands from Arizona to Papua New Guinea. In the US and Canada, the dams have also destroyed the subsistence livelihood of thousands of Natives—through blocking migrating fish, and through the evaporation or mercury leaching inherent in sluggish reservoirs. Dams along the Columbia River system in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho have been a major cause of the decline of the salmon fishery along area rivers.

The more our country perpetuates the myth of money and acquisitions as being what we should aspire to, the greater the imbalance between rich and poor; and the more the truly impoverished experience despair and desperation surrounded by this false wealth and arrogance. Greed is what drives the train in politics. It also fuels the lack of acceptance of any culture that doesn't fit the narrow, familiar mold of the most dominant or most aggressive culture.

We believe that it is possible to suspend the belief that power and money provide happiness; and come together in the spirit of honoring what is sacred in each of us - which has no price. Protecting, sharing, and exchanging resources of culture, wisdom, and respect for all living things is the only right action of any nation. If we are truly to protect the world for our grandchildren's grandchildren.

Thank you for your time. We look forward to speaking with you and to anyone who may wish to join their voice and support for this event and cause. You are welcome to forward this message on to anyone whom you believe should or would want to receive it.

Namaste,

Mary L. Collins
Peace Is Like A River
590 Railroad Street #4St. Johnsbury, VT 05819
Cell: 802.371.8125
email: mary@peaceislikeariver.org
or, mary@marylcollins.com
http://www.peaceislikeariver.org/

TO SUBMIT an ARTICLE or OPINION PIECE to the Native Unity Digest, e-mail bobbieo@digitaldune.net.

NATIVE UNITY - A place for Native American Peoples to solidify their tribes to make a positive impact on the cultural, social, economic and political fabric of American society and a place for non-Natives to better understand the ways of the American Indian.

Visit Vietnam Vet. Larry Mitchell at http://www.potawatomivet.com and click on his blog at the site.

'Warm Fuzzies' With Cyanide?

NOME NUGGET - Editorial September 14th edition
Submitted by a Concerned Citizen

It's amazing how folks will confuse public relations with news. There are a few folks in Nome who have said that the Nome Nugget has been too negative about the proposed use of cyanide at the Rock Creek Mine site. Cyanide is just another industrial chemical according to the NovaGold folks.

Well shuckiedarn! How can we candy coat cyanide? It's a deadly poison! How can we in all honesty accept the propaganda about the benefits of cyanide in our community? We'll get a good look at it this fall when they propose to park two container vans of the industrial strength cyanide out near Nome-Beltz High School at Satellite Field.

Folks who are proponents of cyanide leaching for gold extraction say that they will monitor the tailings and nothing bad will happen. They will monitor the tailings piles for several years. The joke is that they might even hire the same folks to monitor the cyanide tailings who were monitoring the BP oil pipeline.

Some proponents of cyanide leaching say that the folks who find scientific flaws in the proposed techniques are using biased science. That's a desperate excuse. Science is not biased. Science is factual; it is truth and laws. It is how we utilize scientific knowledge that is important. Will the future generations of Nomeites thank us for our economic concerns or will they scorn our scientific ignorance?

Cyanide leaching allows 13 percent more gold recovery. NovaGold claims that the mine would not make money if they didn't utilize cyanide. One wonders how much money they would save if they didn't have to purchase cyanide and didn't have to pay for monitoring a mountainous tailings pile for 30 years?

Please understand that there are critical decisions to be made and the Nugget is not about to candy coat the truth. This paper is not a public relations publication. The news is not always good. We can't dish out the feel good, warm fuzzies when we are dealing with cyanide. —N.L.M.—

FIRST NATION NEWS
Submitted by Ann VanWert

Longest-Serving Gwich'in Chief Dies at 96
Hyacinthe Andre, a respected Gwich'in elder in the Mackenzie Delta region of the Northwest Territories, died Tuesday morning at the Inuvik Regional Hospital. He was 96.

Andre led the Gwichya Gwich'in of Tsiigehtchic, a hamlet of about 200 people located on the Mackenzie River 1,061 kilometres north of Yellowknife, from 1942 to 1980. He received a lifetime achievement award last week from the Gwich'in Tribal Council.

The longest-serving Gwich'in chief, Andre was described by Gwich'in Tribal Council president Fred Carmichael as one of the last remaining traditional leaders."The youth wanted a youth centre," Carmichael recalled, "and he said, 'Okay you want a hall? Okay, you come with me,' and he got them to cut some logs."He added that Andre was full of traditional knowledge and used it to help his people.

"Today, too many people want everything on a silver platter," Carmichael said, "but that wasn't his way."

Andre held many different jobs, including working as a cook on a mission boat along the Mackenzie River in the 1920s, and running a coffee shop and a store in the early 1970s. Just last week, the Gwich'in Tribal Council honoured him with a lifetime achievement award. Andre was married to Eliza Sam and had 12 children.

Manitoba Smoking Ban To Include First nations
First Nations bars, restaurants and casinos will no longer be exempt from Manitoba's smoking ban, provincial minister Dave Chomiak announced Wednesday.

Chomiak, the minister responsible for gaming, said the province will move to extend its smoking ban to include First Nations communities and make it a condition in negotiations when licensing future gaming and liquor establishments.

"It's a very complicated issue and we are committed to respecting the rights of First Nations and to protect Manitobans from the dangers of second-hand smoke," Chomiak said.

Beginning immediately, all new and future First Nations video lottery terminal and liquor establishments will need to comply with the smoking ban. All existing First Nations bars and VLT sites will have one year to comply with the smoking ban.

Chomiak said the year-long period is consistent with the amount of time other businesses had to comply when the smoking ban was introduced in 2004. As well, all native-run casinos with agreements coming up for renewal will need to comply with the ban.

Exemption struck down; province to appeal
Chomiak's announcement came in response to a ruling by Court of Queen's Bench Justice Albert Clearwater that struck down the part of the Non-Smokers Health Protection Act that exempted First Nations reserves. Clearwater ruled on Aug. 14 that the exemption discriminates against businesses outside reserves and violates the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Chomiak said the province will appeal the legal basis on which Clearwater's ruling was made and is prepared to take the matter to the Supreme Court of Canada in what he anticipates will be a lengthy and complicated legal battle.

He said while the province accepts Clearwater's ruling that the smoking ban should apply equally to all Manitobans, he worries that it could have far-reaching economic implications in the province.

"This unprecedented extension of section 15 of the charter has implications for First Nations rights and economic developments in the north, including hydroelectric developments," he said.

"If we were to let the decision stand as it is, we would risk losing all the progress we've made on some initiatives such as aboriginal set-asides for hydro projects, perhaps the floodway [expansion project]."

Only specific exemption
Manitoba is the only province that had a specific exemption in its smoking ban legislation for establishments on reserve land. Three provinces - British Columbia, Ontario and Saskatchewan - have smoking bans that do not exempt facilities on First Nations land.

Saskatchewan went through a similar debate last year when its government introduced a provincewide smoking ban.At first, the Saskatchewan government said the ban would apply to on-reserve facilities and First Nations casinos in the cities. However, First Nations groups insisted such laws were under their jurisdiction and the province backed off.

Marsh Lake Residents Vow To Fight Hydro Plan
Yukon Energy's plan to raise water levels at Marsh Lake for six weeks a year will be opposed by the local advisory council, member Mike Larsen says.

The corporation wants to hold back additional water in Marsh Lake from mid-August to the end of September to increase power generation at its Whitehorse dam. The corporation would raise the Lake's level by about 30 centimetres, or a foot.

The $1-million project is part of the corporation's 20-year plan under review by the Yukon Utilities Board. The advisory council plans to intervene at the board's hearing on the proposal, Larsen said in an interview Wednesday.

"I'm gathering a team of people who are able to be resource people, to ask the right questions, and I think probably what we want is a some sort of neutral study into the effects of erosion on the lake," he said.

Resident Ken McKinnon, who has been spending time at the lake for the last 50 years, says he has no doubt that higher water levels created by the dam have already led to shoreline erosion. Higher water levels when the winds and the waves are at their strongest would just make it worse, he said.

"So that would be just totally disastrous for Marsh Lake, for the residents and, as the prime recreational area, for all of Whitehorse," McKinnon said.

Yukon Energy chair Willard Phelps was not available for comment.

TO SUBMIT an ARTICLE or OPINION PIECE to the Native Unity Digest, e-mail bobbieo@digitaldune.net.

NATIVE UNITY - A place for Native American Peoples to solidify their tribes to make a positive impact on the cultural, social, economic and political fabric of American society and a place for non-Natives to better understand the ways of the American Indian.

Visit Vietnam Vet. Larry Mitchell at http://www.potawatomivet.com and click on his blog at the site.

Divine Strake Fight Not Over

Submitted by Eleanore Fanire, Mohave Downwinders

The Spectrum.com – Southern Utah’s Home Page - Published September, 13th

The staunch opposition that won out over Private Fuel Storage's plight to store high-level nuclear waste in Utah's west desert needs to be as ardent against any future nuclear-type testing at the Nevada Test Site.

Getting caught up in triumph, while well-deserved and worthy of praise, does not mean other battles are abandoned. Putting a stop to the detonation of conventional and nuclear bombs created to destroy deep tunnels where weapons of mass destruction are assumed to be buried is a cause that must maintain continuum.

Divine Strake, the 700-ton ammonium nitrate and fuel oil bomb originally planned for a 35-foot open-air pit dug into a limestone ridge at the Nevada Test Site, is by far extinguished. Though a lawsuit, public outcry with petitions and Nevada and Utah Congressional delegations objected emphatically, the Defense Threat Reduction Agency is pursuing setting the low-yield blast off in mid to late 2007.

Where it will happen does not rule out our arid neighbor approximately 85 miles from Las Vegas because it already possesses monitoring and diagnostic equipment needed to study the explosion. It will be a costly expenditure to duplicate that somewhere else.

Irene Smith, a spokesman from the DTRA, mentioned an alternative location in Mitchell, Ind., where a limestone quarry was home to smaller tests involving 3,000-pound batches of explosives in 2004 and 2005. According to DTRA, that is not going to happen and never intended for it to occur in Indiana.

What is going to happen? That is the looming question that remains unanswered by the Department of Defense. Since it is clearly avoided, vigilance in getting a response is essential to find out where in the process the $23 million test is now.

Utah has won one battle that will keep the Goshute Tribal lands free of radioactive waste storage, but it simply cannot rest on its laurels in its fight to win over an explosion that has yet to prove it will not pose health risks to the local population from toxic materials released and dispersed by a predicted 10,000-foot mushroom cloud.

While discovering ways to root out enemies and weapons hidden in limestone tunnels is understandable, it should not be done by experimentation at the expense of innocent American civilians. Southern Utah has been down that road before and refuses to tread that path again. When the constant threat of nuclear weapons testing is more than temporarily postponed, it will definitely be a victory worth celebrating.

White Sands May Host Bunker-Buster Bomb Test

By Sue Vorenberg, Albuquerque Tribune
Thursday, September 14, 2006

White Sands Missile Range is on a short list of places that the Defense Threat Reduction Agency will consider for new bunker-buster bomb test, said a spokesman for Sen. Pete Domenici, an Albuquerque Republican.

The bomb, dubbed Divine Strake, will have 700 tons of ammonium nitrate and fuel oil equal to about 560 tons of TNT.

A "strake" is a piece of hull planking on a ship.

The goal of the test, planned since 2002, is to predict damage to deep underground facilities.
The blast will happen on ground over a test tunnel so scientists can determine how much underground shock it causes, said Irene Smith, an agency spokeswoman.

The bomb will not use any nuclear components. Any actual weapon developed with data from the test should not be nuclear, said Chris Gallegos, the Domenici spokesman. "They're not even supposed to be studying nuclear bunker-busters," Gallegos said. "This would be a conventional weapon."

Local environmental groups aren't so sure about that, said Greg Mello, executive director of the Los Alamos Study Group, an anti-nuclear weapons group. "This is a test to develop and demonstrate a low-yield, nuclear, Earth-penetrating weapon," Mello said. "This is a weapon the U.S. does not need and it will send a very dangerous signal to the world."

In 2005, Domenici, chairman of the Senate Energy and Water Development Appropriations Subcommittee, led a Senate group that removed funding from the 2006 budget for nuclear bunker-buster tests, Gallegos said.

The idea was that agency should focus more on conventional bunker-buster-type weapons, such as this one, Gallegos said.

But Mello is worried that the upcoming test could eventually pave the way for a nuclear bunker-buster. "All they need is for the president to say `make it,' " Mello said.

The experiment was originally slated for the Nevada Test Site earlier this year. In May, the Nevada Site Office and National Nuclear Security Administration delayed the test because of environmental concerns, Smith said.

"That action was based on NNSA/NSO's decision to clarify and provide further information on the impacts, if any, of background radiation on the Divine Strake site," Smith said in an e-mail.

The agency has been investigating the environmental concerns and is still considering conducting the test in Nevada as well as "other possible sites," Smith said. "The earliest the experiment could be conducted would be several months into calendar year 2007," she added.

White Sands hasn't conducted above-ground explosives tests like this one since the early 1990s, when the agency built the Large Blast-Thermal Simulator on the site, said Jim Eckles, a spokesman. The simulator is an underground tunnel that scientists can use to re-create the shock waves and heat of a nuclear blast without radiation, Eckles said.

The biggest test blast at White Sands when it was testing above-ground explosives was in the mid-1980s. It consisted of 4,700 tons of ammonium nitrate and fuel oil - about seven times larger than the Divine Strake test, Eckles said. Ammonium nitrate is readily available as fertilizer. A mixture of ammonium nitrate and fuel oil was used in the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995, he said.

DTRA has conducted tests at White Sands "for decades," Eckles added.

Mello said he's not overly concerned about ground contamination, but he is concerned about air quality issues that could arise with a new above-ground test in New Mexico. White Sands might not have the proper permits to conduct the test, as regulations might have changed since the 1990s, he added.

"To me, it remains an open question," Mello said.

Smith referred the question to Eckles at White Sands, but Eckles isn't sure about air quality permits either. It is too soon to tell because DTRA hasn't reached a final decision on where and if it will conduct the experiment, he said.

"I doubt if our environmental office would have an answer without seeing proposed details of the test," Eckles said.

UCLA Extension Presents Four Online Courses In Tribal Legal Systems

In cooperation with the UCLA Native Nations Law and Policy Center, this series of courses is designed to support Native educational issues and community concerns. Offered fully online by
UCLA Extension, these courses are available not only to regional Native nations in the U.S. and Canada, but also to the surrounding national and worldwide community who have a professional interest in tribal issues.

Introduction to Tribal Legal Studies focuses on important issues involved in tribal government, court systems and the Indian Rights Act. Instructor Sarah E. Deer, JD, will lead participants through an extensive examination of the process of the incorporation of tribal custom and tradition into the court system and the development of tribal common law and peacemaking courts.

Introduction to Tribal Legal Studies (online) runs September 27 – November 29. Fee: $515.

Other Tribal Legal Systems courses to be offered online include: Violence Against Native Women; Legal Research, Analysis, and Writing in a Tribal Context; and Federal Indian Law and Policy.

For more information, please call Helen Williams at UCLA Extension at 310-825-7729
or email -hwilliam@uclaextensionb.edu
Or visit www.uclaextension.edu/tribal.

TO SUBMIT an ARTICLE or OPINION PIECE to the Native Unity Digest, e-mail bobbieo@digitaldune.net.

NATIVE UNITY - A place for Native American Peoples to solidify their tribes to make a positive impact on the cultural, social, economic and political fabric of American society and a place for non-Natives to better understand the ways of the American Indian.

Visit Vietnam Vet. Larry Mitchell at http://www.potawatomivet.com and click on his blog at the site.

First Nations Hold Ceremony And Vow To Protect Amazay - Duncan Lake

Submitted by Western Shoshone Defense Project

Tse Keh Nay Territory ­- The three Tse Keh Nay Nations gathered in force and held a water ceremony to protect Duncan Lake. The lake, which the First Nations call "Amazay" is situated 400 km northwest of Prince George. Northgate Minerals plans to build a 90 meter high dam to flood the valley and turn the lake into a massive acid rock tailings pit to store contaminated waste from the proposed Kemess North mine.

Takla Chief John Allen French donned his bear claw amulet and led the ceremony. Elders and youth bathed in the sacred waters at Amazay to the sounds of traditional drumming and singing and were brushed with medicinal plants from the shores of the lake. Chief French spoke from his heart about the importance of protecting the lake.

"As a Nation we are not opposed to mining or economic development, but we have to remember what is important. Gold does not run through our blood. We are all made of water. We have pushed the boundaries too far if we are willing to destroy life itself, water, as a means of getting cheaper gold."

Chief French pointed to the lush green valley at the south end of the lake and to all the traditional camp-sites around the lake which he believes were neglected by archaeologists hired by the company. "Our people have been here for thousands of years. We found an old moose-hide stretching rack just up the trail. You can see evidence of our people all around here: you just have to know where to look."

Pointing across the lake to magnificent outcrops of white stones with black streaks across the lake, Chief French stated, "Those grandfathers are mourning the destruction of our land. We have to protect the way of life of our people to harvest, hunt, and make medicines and bathe in the healing waters of the Old Ones. We will protect this lake, not only for our children's children, but for everyone."

Grand Chief Gordon Pierre from Tsay Keh Dene committed to protect the lake. In addition to concerns about destroying fish habitat and hunting grounds, Grand Chief Pierre expressed concerns about the impacts on the whole watershed. "Our people live downstream. We drink that water. There is no way a dam will hold in all the poisoned water. We have lived here for thousands of years. We will always be here and we need clean water."

Grand Chief Pierre says his people are frustrated with having to fight a major battle after having gone through so much hardship already from their forced relocation when the Williston Lake dam flooded out their traditional villages and hunting grounds.

Chief Donny VanSomer brought a group of youth from the Kwadacha Rediscovery Program to the camp at Amazay. "We wanted our youth to see the battles we are fighting to protect their heritage", stated Chief VanSomer. "We loaded them into a school bus and drove out to Amazay and they hiked down to the lake. They set up camp and stayed over night at the lake so they had a chance to see with their own eyes this beautiful lake that will be lost if the dam goes ahead".

The federal and provincial governments are halfway through an environmental assessment that has not yet included any First Nation participation. The Tse Keh Nay have continually pointed out that the process fails to meet legal requirements to consult and accommodate First Nations. The First Nations have also criticized the archaeology and fish studies done by the company to date as part of the Environmental Assessment process.

"Their archaeology report was very limited", states Chief French. "They missed culturally modified trees and a lot of traditional camping sites. They were more interested in old tin cans than our 1300 year old artifacts. We have filed a complaint with the Minister about archaeological issues and have hired an independent archaeologist to do a more detailed assessment."

Regarding fisheries issues, the three Nations are very concerned that the Department of Fisheries and Oceans appear to have reversed their position on habitat replacement. DFO originally stated in a letter dated March 10, 2006, that the company must carry out more fish studies and provide more details about their proposed habitat replacement plan. On July 24, 2006 after a secret meeting with company officials, DFO reversed their position and stated that the company's habitat replacement plans are now acceptable.

"We can't understand why nobody is standing up for this lake" stated Chief French. None of the government ministries in charge of protecting fish, archaeology and the environment are doing their job. We'll have to do their jobs for them. We are growing stronger and stronger as a Nation and we will do what it takes to protect our waters and our lands."

Contact: Chief John Allen French, Takla 250-613-9150
For information and to schedule interviews with the Chiefs, contact:J.P. LaPlante, Mining Coordinator (250) 564-9321

*If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post this message, please retain this credit.UBCIC's Protecting Knowledge Conference site: http://www.ubcic.bc.ca/Resources/conferences/PK.

First Peoples Human Rights Coalition (First Peoples Rights) contributes to a growing understanding that the inherent and inalienable rights of Indigenous peoples are human rights and need to be respected as such. The urgent on-the-ground challenges confronting us today require that more people, more of the time, be more familiar with the rights we do have.

Takla First Nation – Tsay Keh Dene – Kwadacha First Nation
#345 –1640 Sixth Avenue – Prince George, B.C. V2L. 3N2
Phone (250) 564-9321
Fax – (250) 564-9521

Request For Proposals - NAJA Office Space

The Native American Journalists Association (NAJA) is exploring possibilities of moving its offices. Currently, NAJA is headquartered at the University of South Dakota in Vermillion adjacent to the Freedom Forum.

NAJA is a growing organization and is looking at staff expansion in the future to improve the our services. While the need for increased office space has prompted this exploration, we appreciate the support of the Freedom Forum and USD.

For other organizations that wish to explore the possibility of assisting NAJA and advancing their mission, this RFP outlines our needs:

1. Minimum of five offices available office space (sq. ft.) 2. Available storage space (sq. ft. 3. Access to more space in future 4. Estimated moving cost to NAJA 5. Distance to nearest airport 6. Number of tribes in state 7. Will organization serve as fiscal agent?

8. Will organization provide staff support? 9. Will benefits be available to staff? 10. Access to office equipment. 11. What type of equipment? 12. Access to wholesale supplies. 13. Will furniture be provided? 14. Will NAJA contribute to planned growth? 15. Will organization contribute to NAJA's growth? 16. What is the commitment to Native journalists at your organization?

17. Access to technical support. 18. Projected cost for tech support. 19. Phone and Internet cost to NAJA. 20. Dedicated parking spaces. 21. Access to conference room. 22. Proximity to hotel for visiting guests. 23. Is there NAJA chapter nearby? 24. Projected monthly utility cost. 25. Projected monthly rent cost. 26. Proximity to journalism school.

Email complete proposals to info@naja.com and place "NAJA Office Space RFP" in subject line by October 1, 2006.

Or mail to:Native American Journalists Association - Office Space RFP
555 Dakota St.
Al Neuharth Media Center
Vermillion, SD 57069

For questions, please email NAJA President Mike Kellogg at publisher@stwnewspress.com, or call (405) 372-5000, ext. 290.

DNC Launches Native American Page

We laud the Democratic National Committee for continuing to build on its commitment to all Americans in all states, by launching its webpage for Native Americans. In addition to information about the DNC’s Native American Outreach Committee, you can find articles about current political issues of interest to Indians, surveys about issues important to you, and summaries of how Democrats and Indians can work together to take leadership of this country into our own hands.

“Governor Dean and the dedicated people at the DNC continue to reach out to Indian Country, recognizing the power of Indians not just as voters, but as candidates to bring about great change in our country,” said INDN’s List President and DNC National Committeewoman Kalyn Free. “This new webpage provides an excellent reminder of why Indian values are Democratic values.”

Frank LaMere, who chairs the Native American Coordinating Council at the DNC, remarked in his welcome letter on the continuing ties between Democrats and American Indians: “As Democrats, we celebrate our party's diversity and are deeply proud of it. It is a source of strength and energy that informs our vision of what America must be.

Native Americans are an important part of that diversity. We have deeply shared values and commitments that unite us. The Democratic Party supports and respects Tribal Sovereignty and the government-to-government relationship and is committed to upholding it, as stated in the Democratic Party Platform.”

You can find the page at www.democrats.org/nativeamericans.


More INDN Victories Just Days

Primary Day is approaching for our four Washington candidates. Claudia Kauffman and Ms. Kyle Taylor Lucas will be facing opponents in their Washington primaries for the State Senate next Tuesday, Sept. 19. Representative John McCoy and Dr. Don Barlow are running unopposed in their primaries for the state house.

Kyle Taylor Lucas has spent a career in public policy and government affairs, and will offer unique insight and valuable experience to the halls of the state legislature. Her history of practical problem-solving makes her an exciting choice for the people of Washington’s Senate District 35. Lucas was recently endorsed by the state Democratic party over her Democrat In Name Only (and the best Democrat that George Bush could hope for) opponent.

Claudia Kauffman is the founder of a Native American leadership organization who understands the challenges facing Indians and tribal governments. As a trustee of a public university and chair of the Native American parents’ advisory committee on her daughter’s school board, she has the experience to improve education at all levels and for all people throughout the state. Kauffman has been busily building support in neighborhoods throughout her Kent, Washington district in anticipation of a tough challenge from the former police chief.

These are important races for the people of Washington, and they both need your support in their primary election next Tuesday. Please visit their websites as INDN’s List moves toward another string of victories.

To support Claudia Kauffman, visit www.claudiaforsenate.com. To make sure Kyle Taylor Lucas proves victorious, visit www.kyleforsenate.com .

TO SUBMIT an ARTICLE or OPINION PIECE to the Native Unity Digest, e-mail bobbieo@digitaldune.net.

NATIVE UNITY - A place for Native American Peoples to solidify their tribes to make a positive impact on the cultural, social, economic and political fabric of American society and a place for non-Natives to better understand the ways of the American Indian.

Visit Vietnam Vet. Larry Mitchell at http://www.potawatomivet.com and click on his blog at the site.

Border Summit Of The Americas

Submitted by Western Shoshone Defense Project

Tohono O’odham communities have gathered together in southern Arizona along with Derechos Humanos Coalition, American Indian Movement, International Indian Treaty Council and others to call for an urgent Border Summit of the Americas.

The summit will be held at the San Xavier District Cultural Center, Tucson, Arizona from September 29 through October 1, 2006. Campsite space and other nearby accommodations will be available. More detailed information will follow at later date. Mark your calendars now! Organizations are requested to send in a statement and or send a representative to the event.

The three day Border Summit will be facilitated with assistance from M.C., Dennis Banks, and Bill Means. Speakers on these and other concerns are yet to be confirmed. A Film “Crossing Arizona” will be viewed on Saturday. Directed by Joseph Mathew and Dan De Vivo, is an up-to-the-moment look at the hotly debated issues of illegal immigration and border security on the US/Mexico border. Floyd Red Crow Westerman—artist, actor, and songwriter—will be on hand for an evening concert in solidarity with Nations along la Frontera!

Make your voices be heard!! Immigration policy proposals and homeland security have combined to create a volatile situation along U.S. international borders. Increased law enforcement and vigilantism along the U.S.-Mexico border, in particular, has sparked a wave of reactions across the United States, from massive demonstrations to calls for voter registration campaigns and targeted actions.

In addition, in the northern border, the Bush administration has initiated efforts to nullify the Jay Treaty, which recognizes the right of border passage to Indigenous Peoples. And, have also planned to introduce new legislation for new laws to require DNA tests to determine Indian blood. All of this is being done without consultation or informed consent by First Nations peoples, and in violation of their treaty rights.

Coupled with the failure of both political parties in the U.S. to address the critical issues specifically confronting Indigenous communities today along its border, and by abandoning any meaningful legislation in this pre-election period, is cause for major concern. There is increasing urgency for Indian communities along the border(s) to address U.S. border enforcement policy. Recent legislative proposals affecting immigration, increased militarization of the border and the rise of private militias along the border(s) have created volatile and dangerous environments for American Indian border communities. Each day the likelihood of conflict and violence is increasing.

Many deaths and injuries have occurred, and many of these deaths are of Indian people from Mexico, Central and South America. This Border Summit of affected communities will provide an important opportunity to document current community experiences with border enforcement activities, identify and discuss issues and explore potential responses. An opportunity to invite the participation of Indigenous peoples from Central and South America, many times victims of U.S. immigration prison camps, threats and intimidation is extended to share their perspectives and recommendations for broad networking to help achieve a common goal.

The Border Summit of the Americas will also explore its future participation in the international arena with the newly created discussions at the UN to establish a Permanent Forum on Migration and Development, as a result of the impact of globalization on society. The Permanent Forum will also serve to gauge the progress of the Millennium Development Goals set by the United Nations in 2000.

Let’s not let the southern desert of the southwestern U.S. become another military strategic post for maneuvers similar to what is being witnessed in Iraq and Afghanistan. For the 25 tribes along the northern and southern U.S. borders, these changes in border security practices have had a dramatic effect.

Currently more than half of the apprehensions are made in Arizona, where just a fraction of the migrants used to cross. At present at least eight tribes/nations on the U.S./Mexico border between California and Texas are directly affected by migrations across their reservation lands; the Kumeyaay, Cocopah, Tohono O’odham, Yaqui, Gila River, Pima, Yavapai, Ysleta del Sur (Tigua) and Kickapoo nations.

Issues to be discussed include: environmental threats, human rights violations, cultural rights, treaty rights, and sovereignty for Indigenous peoples and Nations, in particular those divided by international borders between Canada and the United States and Mexico and the United States.

The outcome of the Border Summit will be the development of recommendations for border tribal governments and other affected parties to communicate with local, state and national as well as international bodies. This effort lays the groundwork for non-violence on Indian land and a more secure border.

Donations for the summit can be sent to: C/O Arizona Border Rights Foundation, P.O. Box 1286, Tucson, AZ 85702, a 501(c)3 organization.

Contact:
Derechos Humanos – 520 - 770-1373
e-mail – kat@derechoshumanosaz.net
Mike Flores – 520 - 235-7599
e-mail mmiranda@tocc.cc.az.us

'Anything Goes' At Interior Department'

Government Watchdog Says Ethics Lacking at Department of Interior
Submitted by Western Shoshone Defense Project

By LIZ MARLANTES and TOM SHINE
WASHINGTON, Sept. 12, 2006 — - Earl Devaney, the inspector general of the Department of the Interior, will give a blunt assessment of the level of ethics there in testimony to be presented to a congressional subcommittee Wednesday.

"Simply stated, short of a crime, anything goes at the highest levels of the Department of the Interior," Devaney will tell the subcommittee, according to an advance copy of his prepared remarks obtained by ABC News.

Devaney was asked to investigate a controversy that's been brewing on Capitol Hill for months over what critics call a giant giveaway to the major oil companies.

The giveaway, according to the critics, stems from leases issued by the government to oil companies in the late 1990s that exempted them from paying royalties on deepwater drilling, regardless of how much profit they ultimately reaped from that exploration.

The issue has taken on heightened urgency in the wake of the recent discovery of huge new oil fields in the Gulf of Mexico. The federal government could lose more than a billion dollars in royalty payments from this new source alone. Over the long term, the leases could cost the government as much as $20 billion, according to a recent report by the Government Accountability Office.

Devaney did not find evidence of outright collusion between Interior Department officials and oil companies over the leases in question -- writing that "we do not have a 'smoking gun.'"
Instead, he blames the leases on "bureaucratic bungling," calling it a "very costly mistake which might never have been aired publicly absent The New York Times," and inquiries by Congress.

The Times first reported the omission of price thresholds in the leases.

But Devaney's overall indictment of the department's practices is stinging.

"Over the course of this seven-year tenure, I have observed one instance after another when the good work of my office has been dynamically disregarded by the department," he writes in his testimony. "Ethics failures on the part of senior department officials, taking the form of appearances of impropriety, favoritism and bias have been routinely dismissed with a promise 'not to do it again.'"

Devaney says previous reports of his that have chronicled such things as complex efforts to hide the true nature of agreements with outside parties, massive project collapses and bonuses awarded to the very people whose programs had failed were met with "vehement challenges" to the quality of his work.

He also describes high-level officials -- political appointees -- who were forced to leave after investigations into poor judgment or misconduct who were nevertheless sent off "with a party paying tribute to their good service."

It is not a partisan indictment, because the problems Devaney cites occurred under both Democratic and Republican administrations.

The controversial leases were issued during the Clinton administration, but Devaney also mentions how disappointed he was when former Interior Secretary Gale Norton, a Bush appointee, failed to take action against one high-level official. Still, he says he is hopeful things may change under new Secretary Dirk Kempthorne.

John Amos - John@skytruth.org
P.O. Box 3283
Shepherdstown, WV 25443-3283

TO SUBMIT an ARTICLE or OPINION PIECE to the Native Unity Digest, e-mail bobbieo@digitaldune.net.

NATIVE UNITY - A place for Native American Peoples to solidify their tribes to make a positive impact on the cultural, social, economic and political fabric of American society and a place for non-Natives to better understand the ways of the American Indian.

Visit Vietnam Vet. Larry Mitchell at http://www.potawatomivet.com and click on his blog at the site.

Bush Pushes Nuclear Weapons Development In U.S.

Submitted by Preston J. Truman

By Sarah Olson
t r u t h o u t Report

Friday 01, September 2006
In the face of increased Congressional opposition to US nuclear weapons development, the Bush administration appears to be making an end run around governmental checks and balances. The bizarrely named Divine Strake project is a 700-ton explosive experiment, first scheduled to detonate at the Nevada Test Site in June of this year. Thanks to furious grass-roots opposition to the proposal, Divine Strake has been twice delayed, and is currently projecting a detonation date of no sooner than early 2007.

But as the Department of Defense attempts to justify this explosion, many say the government is simply obfuscating and delaying: the blast, they say, is a simulated nuclear explosion designed to provide important test and calibration data for existing and possibly new nuclear weapons. It will happen at the Nevada Test Site after the elections, and it will kick up a 10,000-foot mushroom cloud potentially full of Cold War-era radioactive dust.

Further, as the UN Security Council deadline for Iran to halt its uranium enrichment program passes, and hostilities throughout the Middle East increase, many find the possible threat of US nuclear weapons development to be an unnecessary exacerbation of hostilities. The Bush administration, they say, is engaging belligerent nuclear swashbuckling, and as a result, it is putting US citizens in danger.

What Is Divine Strake And Why Should We Care?
Divine Strake is a planned test explosion managed by the Department of Defense's combat support organization, the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA). According to DTRA spokesperson Irene Smith, "Divine Strake would consist of a surface detonation of 700 tons of ammonium nitrate-fuel oil, or ANFO, above a tunnel, constructed for multiple research efforts. The amount of explosive was selected to produce the energy needed to cause differing levels of ground shock - severe to light - along the length of the tunnel."

Divine Strake is not a nuclear weapons test; it's also not a conventional weapons test. It is simply 700 tons of explosives deposited into the ground and detonated. According to Smith "Divine Strake would not use a nuclear device or nuclear weapon materials, and would not test a weapon." Perhaps it is the uncertainty of precisely what Divine Strake is all about that has local activists so concerned; that, and the threat of a 700-ton explosive disturbing the Cold War-era radioactive dust.

There are two largely interconnected types of objection to the Divine Strake explosion. The first is that Divine Strake appears to be a test to simulate a nuclear weapons explosion, and as such it puts the United States on a path towards a new generation of nuclear weapons. The second is that if Divine Strake were to be detonated at the Nevada Test Site, the blast is likely to unsettle radioactive dust from the Cold War-era nuclear tests.

Utah Congressman Jim Matheson wrote DTRA's director that he was greatly concerned that Divine Strake was an attempt to build low-yield nuclear devices. The DTRA budget, Matheson writes, "states that the demonstration 'will develop a planning tool that will improve the warfighter's confidence in selecting the smallest proper nuclear yield necessary to destroy underground facilities while minimizing collateral damage.' That sounds like preparation for a low-yield nuclear weapon to me."

'Children Of The Bomb'
Preston J. Truman is the director of Downwinders, an organization advocating for the rights of those downwind from Cold War-era atomic testing at the Nevada Test Site. He was born in 1951, the year the atomic testing started. "It was like a big carnival," Truman says. "We were encouraged to go watch history being made. The government said there was no danger."

First the sheep in the area started dying. Then people began to die too. A 1997 National Cancer Institute Study - the most comprehensive study of the effects of atomic testing at the Nevada Test Site to date - estimated fallout from nuclear weapons testing generated anywhere from 10,000 to 75,000 cases of thyroid cancer. Political activism in the 1980s revealed documents admitting the government knew the danger to downwind populations, even at the time of the tests.

According to Truman, this disaster is easily repeatable. "Divine Strake is just a steady step toward resuming testing. Another round of nuclear weapons development could make us all downwinders."

A lawsuit filed on behalf of two Western Shoshone tribes and downwinders from Nevada and Utah is attempting to stop Divine Strake based on these same health concerns. Attorney Robert Hager accused the Department of Defense and Bechtel of Nevada of "junk science" and intentionally failing to conduct proper soil samples.

Opposition to nuclear testing and nuclear weapons development isn't a radical issue for people in the southwest, according to Truman. Nearly everyone knows someone who has cancer. Nearly everyone in his generation has been affected by the tests. "Those of us who were children of the bomb are in charge now. We said, 'You're not going to do this to our children. To our grandchildren. No more downwinders. Enough.'"

HEAL Utah's Vanessa Pierce agrees this is an issue shared by many in the west. "When you lose a part of yourself because the federal government put you in harm's way, that's not a transgression you can ever forgive or forget. This goes to the very core of human survival."

'Divine Strake Is An Important Wake-Up Call'
Jacqueline Cabasso is the executive director of the Western States Legal Foundation. She says it's important to understand that Divine Strake is not a nuclear weapons test; it's a test to evaluate the effect of existing nuclear weapons. This distinction should not mollify concern about nuclear weapons use. To the contrary..

Worse still, she says, the US public doesn't fully understand the reality of US nuclear position. "There is no public discussion or debate about US nuclear weapons. Their existence, their purpose, or their future. Yet they are integrally related to our wars."

"In every aspect, the nuclear weapons program is moving forward. Billions of dollars have been spent. This Divine Strake test is a tiny point of this program that has become visible. But there are many interconnected programs also happening just below the radar of public scrutiny." For example, on Wednesday, even as we discussed Divine Strake, the Nevada Test Site was conducting a subcritical nuclear test.

Divine Strake has a certain symbolic importance. The more the US appears to be considering nuclear weapons use - appears to be moving forward with nuclear weapons development and testing - the more other countries will consider themselves in danger. But, Cabasso says, it's important to consider Divine Strake within the context of the existing nuclear arsenal and the ongoing conventional weapons testing. "This is just one of many, many ongoing tests. Divine Strake should be seen as a wake-up call."

NUCLEAR WASTE SITE LOOKS DOOMED!
Utah politicians praise decisions by BIA, BLM

By Suzanne Struglinski Deseret Morning News
Friday, September 8th, 2006
WASHINGTON — Private Fuel Storage no longer has a lease to use tribal lands to store nuclear waste in Tooele County in the wake of decisions made by two Interior Department agencies Thursday.

Utah politicians said the decisions leave almost no chance that the waste shipments will come to the state.

"This is the period at the end of the sentence," Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. said. "It does it for us. This is the best news Utah has received in a long time."

In two separate decisions, the Bureau of Indian Affairs disapproved a lease that allowed PFS to use Skull Valley Goshute Indian reservation land, and the Bureau of Land Management refused to grant the rights of way needed to build transportation methods needed to move tons of used nuclear fuel through the state and to the storage site.

"They can't get it to the reservation, and they have no site because they have no lease," said Denise Chancellor, Utah assistant attorney general. "I believe this is the end of the line."

The decisions create more tough obstacles for PFS. The company received its license from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission earlier this year, lost several original investors and still waits for a response from the government to a request they do business together. PFS was originally made up a eight nuclear utilities that wanted to create an interim storage site for 40,000 tons of nuclear waste because the permanent federal storage site is so overdue.

The federal site, now planned for Nevada's Yucca Mountain, was supposed to open in 1998, but will not open until at least the next decade. Most utilities store spent fuel on site but face rising costs or space constraints.

Chancellor said she felt "euphoric" Thursday, reflecting on the 10-year battle against the project. The state fought against the project getting a license and still has a legal case pending in federal appeals court against it. She said from a legal standpoint, these are final decisions issued by the Interior Department, and she could not think how they could be changed.

"PFS is dead. It's that simple," said Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, who announced the Interior Department decision Thursday. Rep. Chris Cannon, R-Utah, said the department did what "we expected them to do."

"This comes as very welcome news," Cannon said.

Private Fuel Storage spokeswoman Sue Martin said neither she nor consortium chairman John Parkyn had received or reviewed the documents from the Interior Department late Thursday, so she could not comment on their contents.

"We have to take a look at exactly what their reasoning is and what this all consists of," Martin said. She added that Hatch's proclamation that the project is dead "is a bit premature." Hatch, however, said that any notion that PFS could still put waste in Utah after Thursday's news is "pure hogwash."

"With this action, all but one nail has been driven into the PFS coffin," said Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah. "Now we just have to get PFS to surrender its license. Putting an above-ground, high-level nuclear storage dump right next to a test and bombing range never made sense, and it never will."
E-mail: suzanne@desnews.com

NAJA Receives $90,000 Grant From Ford Foundation
VERMILLION, S.D._The Native American Journalists Association has received a $90,000 grant from the Ford Foundation to enhance general operations and educational programs to better serve a growing membership.

The three-year grant will allow NAJA to continue improving or creating a variety of projects, including a radio camp for high school students next year. A majority of the grant, however, will be used to supplement an education director's salary and improve office operations.

"Students are a big portion of our organization," NAJA President Mike Kellogg (Navajo) said. "It is important to have someone in a position to handle their needs."

Jon Funabiki, former deputy director of Ford's Media, Arts and Culture Unit who has been working with NAJA for several years, said giving to NAJA was an investment in the future.

"The Ford Foundation is delighted to offer support to the Native American Journalists Association, both through this new grant of $90,000 and through the Challenge Fund for Journalism," Funabiki said.

"We believe that NAJA and its members play a critical role in strengthening both Native American media and the mainstream media's news coverage of Native communities. Sadly, stereotypes, bias and lack of understanding continue to seep into the news media's depiction of Native American communities and concerns. We look to NAJA to provide leadership on these issues."

The grant also will be used for leadership and fundraising training for NAJA's board of directors, marketing strategies to promote membership, and leadership training for staff. NAJA also plans to update equipment for office personnel.

TO SUBMIT an ARTICLE or OPINION PIECE to the Native Unity Digest, e-mail bobbieo@digitaldune.net.

NATIVE UNITY - A place for Native American Peoples to solidify their tribes to make a positive impact on the cultural, social, economic and political fabric of American society and a place for non-Natives to better understand the ways of the American Indian.

Visit Vietnam Vet. Larry Mitchell at http://www.potawatomivet.com and click on his blog at the site.